Apple Rolls Out Major App Store Update

Apple has quietly rolled out a major user interface update for its popular App Store on Saturday morning in a bid to make it more convivial and easier to navigate.

Visitors to a webpage can identify the most important visual cues at a glance thanks to a significantly modified page layout that has brought customer ratings next to the screenshots.

Unlike previous iterations, the new App store now features large size full screen captures of the apps with the amount of description provided by the developers kept to a minimum.

Apple has chosen a cleaner white background with a significantly larger icon on the left to identify the developer and the app description is now clearly located at the top of the page next to the developers' logo.

Importantly, the App store description is now limited to the first two lines by default although this can be expanded by the reader. It is therefore vital that developers manage to attract the user's attention in a few words.

Apple has also introduced the possibility of separating comments for all versions (or a particular app) from those for the current version and the page navigation has also been simplified.

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Apple has also made it easier to access a longer list of applications from the same developer. This is actually an interesting bit of promotion and could potentially allow developers to increase their sales overnight. Still with more than 100,000, Apple will soon need to overhaul the way apps are presented.